Staten Islander quizzed in serial slayings

This image from video shows a man the police have dubbed "John Doe Duffel Bag," who was questioned in connection with a series of slayings in Brooklyn.DCPI

By JOHN ANNESE and KIAWANA RICH

A Staten Island man has been taken in for "intensive" questioning as a "person of interest" in the shooting deaths of three Brooklyn shopkeepers over the last five months.

"John Doe Duffel Bag," as he was dubbed by police, has drawn scrutiny because he may have been caught on video in at least two of the shootings, a law enforcement source told the Advance.

When asked about the man, NYPD spokesman Detective Brian Sessa said on Tuesday night, "We are talking to someone who fits his description," but he wouldn't provide further details.

But two police sources said Tuesday that the man in custody hails from Staten Island.

NYPD crime prevention teams have been visiting stores on Staten Island offering general safety tips, but that's something they would do regardless of the shootings.

One NYPD source offered the following advice to shopkeepers here: "Be aware at night. Try not to be alone, especially if they're Middle Eastern."

According to the Daily News, the mustachioed, bag-toting mystery man cops dubbed "John Doe Duffel Bag" voluntarily entered the 68th Precinct station house in Bay Ridge to submit to questioning. He was later moved to the 67th Precinct for more questioning, the report said.

Police did not immediately release his name, but law enforcement sources said he is 63, from Staten Island, which the Advance confirmed, and is believed to be the man whose image was captured most clearly in surveillance video from the latest murder scene, in Flatbush.

According to the Daily News report, the man has not been branded a suspect, but detectives are eager to learn what his business was in the vicinity of all three murders.

Hours earlier, before the link to the Island had surfaced, some Island Middle Eastern store owners were on edge while others were nonplussed.

Store owner Sunny Khan, 28, of the Halal International Grocery & Meat Market in Meiers Corners, noted that he has a bodyguard working store security, but plans on requesting extra police presence.

Customer Roger Matthews of Castleton Corners said the possibility of a serial killer roaming the city makes him a little nervous.

"If he doesn't find the store owner here and I'm here, then he might come for me," said Matthews, who added that he would not stop patronizing Khan's store.

Over at the Kosher Bakery, also in Meiers Corners, store owner Irwin Keller whistled past the graveyard. "It's in Brooklyn, right? He can't afford the toll. We can't even afford the toll," he quipped.

Keller said he's fortunate that in 30 years, his store has been broken into just once.

"I am usually very cautious here at night when I'm alone. I watch the door," Keller added.

Omar Shakor, owner of the Mecca Market in Mariners Harbor, said he isn't nervous as much as he is disturbed that the slayings now appear to be about race and not money.

Shakor said something similar happened after 9/11, when some took out their anger on Arabs or Muslims. He said he recalled the story of a Sikh man who was mistaken for a terrorist type and slain.

"It bothers me," said Shakor. "If it escalates, it means it's a [racism] issue that needs to be discussed and addressed. ... It can happen anywhere."

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters on Monday that investigators aren't ruling out anything in the killings, which have been linked by ballistics to the same .22-caliber gun.

The most recent slaying happened Friday afternoon, when Rahmatollah Vahidipour, a Jewish man from Iran, was shot three times in the head and chest at his store, the She She Boutique.

"The possibility of a bias motive here is something that can't be excluded," Kelly said.

On July 6, Mohamed Gebeli, 65, an Egyptian immigrant and a Muslim, was found shot in the back of his shop, Valentino Fashion Inc. On Aug. 6, Isaac Kadare, 59, also Egyptian but Jewish, was shot in the head in his store, Amazing 99 Cent Deal.

On Sunday, police released photographs of four people, including "John Doe Duffel Bag," identifying them as possible witnesses. Two of those people have since been ruled out, according to police.

Kelly said Tuesday that investigators had ruled out one suspect: A man whose sketch was distributed by the NYPD in August after the second slaying.